More specifically, the present invention is related to a latch for a reclining backrest of a seat of a vehicle, said latch including:                a support structure to be fitted to the frame of said backrest; and        a coupling mechanism, which is associated with said support structure and is adapted to be coupled to a fixed striker in a releasable manner, when the backrest is in a substantially straight position.        
Latches of the type described above are typically used in the rear seats of a car, where the backrests can be reclined between a folded position, as much as possible towards a substantially horizontal orientation, and a substantially straight position having a substantially vertical orientation. In this way, the space to be used by the baggage compartment arranged in the rear part of the car can be increased, thus allowing a more comfortable arrangement of particularly bulky loads that otherwise could not be transported inside the vehicle.
Though, the possibility to recline the backrest makes it necessary for constructors to use suitable devices able to firmly lock the backrest in its position, when it is arranged in its straight condition. As a matter of fact, if the backrests were not correctly locked in position in their straight condition, possible passengers seating in the rear seats could be thrown of their seats in case of braking. Furthermore, even if there were no passengers seating in the rear seats, the braking could cause the load contained in the baggage compartment to push the backrests forward, thus not only causing the backrests to be folded forward, but also possibly allowing the load to reach the passenger compartment with potential serious consequences for the safety of the driver or of the other passengers.
For this reason, cars are typically provided with latches, whose coupling mechanism is able to constrain, in a stable but releasable manner, the backrest of the rear seat, in its straight condition, to a fixed striker arranged on the frame of the vehicle. Clearly, for this reason, latches must be firmly mounted on the frame of the backrest of the vehicle, so that the stresses to which they are subject during their use reduce as much as possible the risk of a possible undesired detachment thereof from the backrest itself. As a matter of fact, this detachment would cause the backrest to fold forward, with all the problematic and dangerous consequences mentioned above.
Though, latches of the type described above have some drawbacks.
A drawback is due to the fact that, in order to ensure a firm fixing and an adequate resistance to stresses, the above-mentioned latches are constrained to the frame of the backrest, typically with the use of numerous elements and components, such as brackets, plates and the like. Owing to the above, on the one hand, the installation of the latch is burdensome in terms of time needed to connect the numerous components and, on the other hand, the manufacturing of the latch is expensive in terms of costs for producing said components.